Circe's Recruits 4: Hale by Marie Harte

him.
    McKinley could have taken out his closest captors. Hawkins, however, was a wild card. Instinct told him the man just might be able to give him a real challenge. From what little McKinley knew of him, Hawkins had been a Navy SEAL before volunteering for the new and improved Project Dawn. Tough to put down as a civilian, even harder as a rogue Circ. In other circumstances, McKinley wouldn't have minded sparring with the man. Having him here now, however, absolutely sucked.
    “Move it, McKinley.” Hawkins shoved him, and he turned to glare at the bastard.
    The message in Hawkins's eyes was clear— don’t make me do this the hard way.
    McKinley glanced at Kohl and forced himself to remain cool. “You're going to regret this, Kohl.”
    “I already do.” Kohl swore. “And that's General Kohl. Get the hell out of my office, you traitor.”
    McKinley ignored Kuntz and walked with the men holding him through the door.
    He moved on autopilot while planning a means of escape. Without an access code, he'd have to resort to brute strength to push past several secured doorways, and he needed to conserve himself for the battle ahead, once he escaped this fucked-up situation.
    The guards with him remained oddly silent, not prodding and taunting him the way most of the rogues often did with those who'd turned against the program.
    McKinley took a closer look at the men and realized all of them were new transfers. All US Navy men, if he remembered correctly.
    All too soon, they arrived at the basement level. Just down the corridor sat Dr.
    Frasier's lab. McKinley tensed, ready to put his half-assed plan to escape into motion—to disable communications and take out these rogues before the fight drew attention to him. Yeah, right.
    To his shock, Hawkins and the others backed away. Hawkins nodded at the others, who left without question.
    “They'll buy us some time with a distraction. Don't fuck around. You have to make this look good.” Hawkins grimaced and handed McKinley his stunner.
    “Why?” What the hell was Hawkins up to?

    “You know why. I didn't sign on for this.” Hawkins swore. “Just find us an antidote. Torrence seems to be evening out, right?”
    “How the hell do you know that?”
    Hawkins grinned, fangs extending as McKinley watched. “I hear things. And I owe my team. They only signed on for this because I was so damned sure it would work. Captain Delancey has a lot to answer for.” McKinley had never heard of Delancey, but he didn't have time to play around.
    He tightened his hand around the stunner. “You sure about this? I could just as easily beat the shit out of you.”
    “Thanks, but no,” Hawkins said dryly. “We're counting on you to help us out. The way you helped Torrence.” Hawkins handed him his ID badge. “Once they sound the alarm, you'll have no more than five minutes before everything goes completely lockdown.”
    “I know.” McKinley stared hard at the large man placing himself at risk, wondering how he knew so much. “Give me a way to contact you.” Hawkins rattled off a number. “Now hurry the fuck up. My beast doesn't like this.” McKinley watched a ripple snake under Hawkin's forearms. “It's going against instinct to wait for an attack.”
    “I owe you.”
    At the words, Hawkins relaxed slightly, and McKinley struck. As one hundred and thirty-three milliamps of power surged through Hawkins's body, he automatically changed into a beast that nearly rivaled McKinley for sheer size. McKinley kept the stunner glued to Hawkins long enough to kill a normal human being, but just enough to knock the rogue out cold.
    “I'll be back when I can,” he murmured and raced toward the stairwell, his mission now more vital than ever. Paige was counting on him. Hawkins was counting on him. And McKinley, dammit, refused to allow any more injustice to continue. The time had finally come. Now, to put the rest of the pieces into play to exact his revenge and complete his mission…

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